Which to use
“apparent” is an adjective and “apparently” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,138
- “apparent” frequency rank
- #1,655
- “apparently” frequency rank
- 5793
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | apparent | apparently |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Capable of being seen, or easily seen; open to view; visible to the eye; within sight or view. | Plainly; clearly; manifestly; evidently. |
Where the eye mixes apparent and apparently
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses apparent with apparently
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: apparent is /əˈpæɹ.ənt/ while apparently is /əˈpæɹ.ənt.liː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “apparent” sits inside “apparently”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5793, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
apparent is recorded at frequency rank #4,138, classified as anadj, pronounced /əˈpæɹ.ənt/. apparently is at rank #1,655, tagged as anadv, pronounced /əˈpæɹ.ənt.liː/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 5793, this pair ranks #513,999 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of apparent vs apparently
Shared letters: aenprt. Private to "apparent": -. Private to "apparently": ly.
"apparent" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC · "apparently" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- apparent ← apaprent · aparent · appaernt · apparennt · apparentt · apparetn · apparnet · apparrent
- apparently ← apaprently · aparently · appaerntly · apparenlty · apparenntly · apparentlly · apparentlyy · apparenttly
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "apparent" and "apparently" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "apparent" or "apparently"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "apparent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "apparently" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #513,999 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "apparent" and "apparently" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apparel vs apparent". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #513,999 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.